End seal for rotary intaglio fountain



Sept. 13, 1955 A. c. BEHRINGER END SEAL FOR ROTARY INTAOLIO FOUNTAIN 5 Sheets-Sheet l Filed NOV. 29, 1951 INVENTOR; A2M/@0 C. 55mm/aff? Sept. 13, 1955 A. c. BEHRINGER END SEAL RoR ROTARY INTAGLIO FOUNTAIN 5 Sheets-Sheec 2 Filed NOV. 29, 1951 SMN.

IN VEN TOR.

Sept. 13, 1955 A. c. BEHRINGER 2,717,550

END SEAL FOR ROTARY INTAGLIO FOUNTAIN Filed NOV. 29, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Arg/Sify;

United States Patent O END SEAL FOR ROTARY INTAGLIO FOUNTAIN Alfred C. Behringer, Cupsaw Lake, Wanaque, N. J., as-

sgnor to Publication Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application November 29, 1951, Serial No. 258,894

2 Claims. (Cl. lOl-157) The present invention relates to rotary intaglio printing presses and more specifically to ink fountain structures for such presses.

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Serial No. 160,374 filed May 5, 1950, no-w Patent No. 2,676,539, which issued on April 27, 1954.

In recent years closed ink fountains have been widely used in commercial production and at high speeds, such fountains being illustrated by patents to Weiss No. Re. 21,212 and 2,055,272. In the operation of these presses, difficulty has been experienced in insuring a uniform and continuous flow of ink from the fountain sump onto the printing cylinder and across the entire length of the latter. These ink circulating systems utilize one or more pumps, and the distribution of the ink from one or a few sources into a band or ribbon of ink uniformly applied to the cylinder across its entire printing length has` given risc to difficulties because of the caking or hardening of the ink during operation, and also because of the occasional presence of foreign bodies in the ink which have escaped entrapment by the straining mechanisms that are generally used.

An object of the present invention, accordingly, is to provide an ink distribution system by means of which uniformity of inking is accomplished at all times across the printing length of the cylinder.

A further object of the invention is to provide a system of the above character wherein means is provided to enable uniform ink distribution to be maintained at all times and to facilitate the maintenance of such distribution by mechanism that may be easily inspected, cleaned and variably adjusted to accomplish certain desired conditions of non-uniformity. These last mentioned conditions are illustrated, for example, by situations where certain portions of the cylinder require much more ink than other portions and, accordingly, it is desirable to apply more ink to such portions during the printing operation.

A further object of the invention resides in providing an enclosure for an ink fountain of the above character wherein a reciprocating doctor knife is utilized as a closure element while preserving all of its functions as a exible wiping element for wiping excess ink from the surface of the printing cylinder.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent as it is described in greater detail in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a plan view of an ink fountain constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a view in transverse section, taken on the line 2 2 of Figure 1, and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 3 is a partial view similar to Figure 1, showing a modified form of end seal; and

Figure 4 is a partial view in transverse section, taken on the line 7 7 of Figure 3 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the above drawings, a rotary intaglio Patented Sept. 13, 1955 lice an adjustable wall portion for the doctor side of the fountain. The wall portion 15 is also provided with a doctor knife assembly comprising one or more brackets 16 upon which a doctor knife holder 17 is secured, the doctor knife holder supporting a doctor knife 18, as will be seen in Figure 2; The outer extremity ofthe holder 17 is provided with a nose 19 that is shaped to bend the doctor knife into a suitable wiping position, as illustrated.

The adjustable wall portion 15 is also provided with a sealing blade 20 secured in a clamp 21 and adapted to engage frictionally against the doctor blade 18. The sealing blade 20 is stationary, but as will be understood by those skilled in the art, the doctor knife assembly, includ ing the bracket 16, reciprocates back and forth during operation of the printing press. At each end of the fountain, an end seal 22 is provided, this end seal being curved to conform to the curvature of the cylinder 1i) and being carried by a bracket 23 that is secured to a land 23a on the adjustable wall section 1S. The end seal 22 terminates in an edge 24 that lies closely adjacent the plane of the wiping edge of the doctor knife 13, as illustrated in Figure l, while the other circumferential edge 25 of the end seal 22 lies closely adjacent the inking head structure which will be described presently. It will be understood, of course, that the sealing blade 2i) extends across the entire distance between the fountain end walls in order to effect a more complete enclosure of the fountain.

In order that the space between the printing cylinder 10 and the adjacent portion of the hinged wall 14 may be closed, a sealing strip 41 is removably secured to the wall, being formed of any suitable material such as Bakelite, this strip being interchangeable with others of varying size to accommodate cylinders of different sizes.

Referring now particularly to Figures 3 and 4, wherein the adjustable wall portion 15, the land 23a, the sealing blade 20 and the clamp 21 are omitted for clarity in Figure 3, a thin flexible splash plate 61, formed of any suitable material such as steel, is provided to seal the area between the end seal 22 and the base of the bracket 23 and between the end wall 11 and the adjacent end of the reciprocating doctor knife holder 17. The splash plate 61 is secured to bracket 23 adjacent the base thereof and extends forwardly to just under the secured end of the end seal 22. One edge of the splash plate 61 abuts the end wall 11. The opposite edge overlaps the end of the cylinder 10. The end 18a of the doctor knife 18 rides on the splash plate 61. One extreme position of the doctor knife 18 and associated holding mechanism is shown in solid lines in Figure 3 and the other extreme position thereof is indicated approximately by the dotted line 62. This structure, in association with the end seal 22, forms a substantially complete seal between the reciprocating doctor knife and the end wall 11 and the secured end of the end seal 22.

While the invention has been described with specific reference to the accompanying drawings, it is not to be limited save as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a rotary intaglio printing press having a cylinder, an ink fountain comprising end and side walls, and a reciprocating doctor mechanism, an end sealing mechanism comprising a bracket having a base portion secured to a fountain side wall and extending therefrom in a direction at right angles to the axis of the cylinder, and an elongated thin flexible sealing blade secured at one end only to the bracket and extending exibly therefrom toward the opposite side wall and engaging and conforming itself, by virtue of its inherent flexibility, to a portion of the peripheral surface of the cylinder to close the space between the end of the cylinder and the adjacent fountain end Wall.

2. In a rotary intaglio printing press having a cylinder, an ink fountain comprising end and side walls, and a reciprocating doctor mechanism, an end sealing mechanism comprising a bracket having a base portion secured to a fountain side Wall and extending therefrom in a direction at right angles to the axis of the cylinder, an elongated thin flexible sealing blade secured at one end only to the bracket and extending flexibly therefrom toward the opposite side Wall and engaging and conforming itself, by virtue of its inherent exibility, to a portion of the peripheral surface of the cylinder to close the space between the end of the cylinder and the adjacent fountain end wall, and a thin splash plate extending from the sealing blade to the base portion of the bracket to close the gap between the end of the cylinder and the adjacent fountain end wall extending from the sealing blade to the base of the bracket.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re.21,2'12 Weiss sept. 19, 1939 2,169,641 Gurwick Aug. 15, 1939 2,350,089 Behringer May 30, 1944 2,371,223 Crafts Mar. 13, 1945 

